Friday, July 30, 2010
Restaurants Thursday mole at Bone Garden Cantina
Posted by Besha Rodell on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 4:11 PM
- Besha Rodell
Along with the regular menu, we were presented with a daily specials menu, and although I had planned to have one taco and maybe a healthy side, I was unable to resist the special of the day: duck enchiladas with mole sauce.
The duck itself was fine - the meat was moist, but could have been moister, and there was a bit of gristle in a couple of bites. But the mole was fantastic - dark, rich, with just enough heat and depth to create that amazing, multilayered intrigue that made us mole lovers in the first place. With a side of rice and re-fried black beans, I'm happy to say I cleaned my plate.
Restaurants It's time for fresh figs
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 12:30 PM
I had my first fig of the season Wednesday night at the Shed at Glenwood. It was $3 slider night, and Chef Lance Gummere made a panino with ham, blue cheese and figs.
I've been lamenting the closing of Stella in Grant Park because the chef there used to make a flawless summertime pizza topped with figs and prosciutto. So I was very happy Thursday night to find that Grant Central was offering a pizza special with that combo, plus blue cheese and arugula. Delicious.
I'm not sure if Jake's is making their annual fig-honey ice cream now, but it's among the city's best uses of figs.
If you come across any good restaurant dishes that include fresh figs, please let me know. (And I'm not talkin' Fig Newtons.)
(Photo courtesy of Zazzle.)
Best Of Best of Atlanta 2010: Time's almost up
Posted by Emma Harger on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Don't forget, voting for Best of Atlanta ends tomorrow, July 31. You don't need to vote in every single category if you're stumped on some of them, but do make sure to vote in at least five overall.
Here is the ballot. As they say in Chicago, vote early and vote often*!
*you can only vote once
Restaurants / Cooking Where's my corn cobbler?
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Creamed corn, bacon-corn pudding, cornbread pudding — I've encountered all three as entree sides recently. But, besides Morelli's corn ice cream, I've yet to encounter a corn dessert, unless you include the grits pie at Home Grown.
Though pastry chefs measure their day's work in sugar, life's not all sweet for them. As such, we're particularly excited about the latest muse of the dessert world: sweet corn. Pastry chefs around the country are pairing it with meal-ending stalwarts—with peerless results.Uchiko, the recently opened sibling to Austin's famed Uchi restaurant, features a polenta custard with sweet-corn sorbet (pictured in the link to Tasting Table). Pastry chef Philip Speer tops it off with caramel salt, a blend of dehydrated caramel and popcorn.
One of pastry chef Karen DeMasco's signature dishes at New York's Locanda Verde is her sweet-corn budino (pudding) with berries; she achieves its rich flavor by steeping kernels and cobs in milk to form the base of her dessert.
The corn dessert offering at Stephanie Izard's new Girl & the Goat blurs the line between sweet and savory: Frozen corn nougat meets apricots and a tangy bacon gastrique.
And at Tony Maws's Boston fixture Craigie on Main, Anson Mills grits support a cardamom-infused strawberry compote and crème fraîche ice cream (click here to download the recipe).
Food & Life The Daily Deals: dining deals around town for July 30
Posted by Emma Harger on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 8:27 AM
South City Kitchen Vinings offers shrimp, catfish and crab with French Fries and hush puppies for $16/person and $14 draft beer pitchers to go along with the seafood.
Pura Vida has $3 tapas from 5:30-6:45 p.m. tonight and every weeknight.
Groupon's deal of $30 for $15 can be used at either Strip or Cantina.
Straits has a live DJ plus $5 House Drinks, $2 Shots & $5 Pink Ponies. Come early for Early Bites, a three-course prix fixe menu with a complimentary house cocktail, for $16.99 from 5-7 p.m.
Aqua Blue brings $3 Blue Moon drafts, $4 select wines and live jazz and blues music.
Scoutmob offers 50% off at Milltown Tavern.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Events Atlanta weekend food events, July 30-August 1
Posted by Emma Harger on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 4:55 PM
- Wikimedia Commons
Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week, now until Sun, Aug. 8: Enjoy special three-course meals at a selection of downtown’s restaurants. No coupons, passes or tickets needed. Event features a special signature cocktail. Visit website for list of participating restaurants and menus. Reservations recommended. $25-$35. Various locations. www.atlantadowntown.com/fun/restaurant-week.
Cook's Warehouse Midtown, Sat., July 31: Cooking 101 teaches students the basics of preparation, including knife skills (with hands-on practicing), recipe reading, pantry stocking and preparing a meal with homemade stock, seared meat and sauce on top. Registration required. $50. 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. 1544 Piedmont Road. 404-815-0543. www.cookswarehouse.com.
Bone Garden Cantina, Sat., July 31: Bone Garden turns two and celebrates all day with food specials, tiki band live music and the launch of the Bone Garden Tequila Club. Noon-11 p.m. 1425 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd. 404-418-9072. www.bonegardencantina.com.
Soho, Sun., Aug. 1: Weekly Low Down Lobster Boil includes Maine lobster, andouille sausage, corn, potatoes and salad for $25. $3 pints of Sweetwater 420 also available. Call to reserve lobster. 4300 Paces Ferry Road, Vinings. 770-801-0069. www.sohoatlanta.com.
Restaurants Dynamic Dish reopens, parking goes to hell
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 4:02 PM
Dynamic Dish has reopened after closing a month for remodeling. I lunched there today and the space is much improved, both aesthetically and functionally. There's a new restroom and a much more comfortable bar.
Speaking of bars, owner David Sweeney has applied for a liquor license and you'll soon be able to drink yourself under the table while eating his super-healthy, mainly vegetarian cuisine.
Today, I ordered this sandwich of roasted tofu and carrots with walnut-basil pesto. It came with two side dishes — sliced Georgia cucumbers and South Carolina peaches. It was thoroughly delicious, even if it had twice the garlic any human being should eat before speaking to another human.
Wayne ordered a spicy babaganoush made with Georgia eggplant, tomatoes, chilies, cilantro and sesame seeds, served with toasted pita bread. He also ordered a cold soup of cucumber, yogurt and dill.
We did have an unpleasant experience outside the restaurant. Edgewood Avenue is now lined with parking meters. Wayne put coins in a meter and it kept responding with the word "FAIL." We gave up, went inside and one of the staff suggested we move the car to a side street.
When Wayne went out to do that, a city employee was writing a ticket for the car behind his. He told the guy our experience with the meter and he responded with, "If that's the case, you won't get a ticket."
When we left the restaurant — you guessed it — there was a ticket on the car's windshield.
(Photo by Cliff Bostock)
Food & Life The Daily Deals: dining deals around town for July 29
Posted by Emma Harger on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 9:13 AM
At DBA Barbecue, live blues with Mudcat is coupled with $10 pitchers of Hurricanes today.
The Shed at Glenwood offers Harvest Night: four vegetable sides for $10.
Half off Depot has a twofer: $25 for $12 at Big Chow Grill and $10 for $4.50 at the Atlanta-area locations of SunO.
Aspens Signature Steaks West offers $10 wine tastings from 6-8 p.m. at the bar.
Scoutmob has 50% off at Isabella's Cafe.
Divan has a pomegranate martini for $5 and a special meal featuring an appetizer, kabob choice and dessert for $35 (from 6:30-7:30 p.m.) plus half-price hookah during that time.
Food media ‘Top Chef’ D. C., Episode 7: PEAS AT ANY PRICE
Posted by Joel Silverman on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 8:27 AM
A note to readers: this week’s entry was written by Adam Silverman, brother of your regular correspondent and general lurker-behind-the-scenes.
With hunky guest U. S. Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL), Top Chef D.C. contestants rise to political action by exploring the culinary side of lobbying, the "power lunch" and... pea puree sabotage.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Restaurants A lonely dinner on North Highland
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 6:54 PM
I was surprised to find a very staid menu. Starters include dishes like pimento cheese, calamari, mussels and a pork empanada. Soups, salads and sandwiches take up most of the menu and there are only five entrees. I chose the 10-oz. grilled pork chop topped with crimini and shiitake mushrooms over an onion jus with corn-bacon pudding on the side (right photo).
Everything on my plate was delicious, but I'm mystified why there's nothing more adventurous on the menu. Perhaps they're offering a prosaic alternative to the esoterica emerging from the kitchen of Pura Vida, a few doors down...and quite crowded when I walked by.
(Photos by Cliff Bostock)
